Shotona / Guides

glTF to MP4: convert a 3D model to video

glTF is a 3D format, and MP4 is a video. Getting from one to the other means rendering: placing a camera, lighting the scene, and drawing every frame. Shotona does all three in your browser and encodes the frames straight to an H.264 MP4, so you never install Blender or upload the file.

Quick version

1. Open the Shotona editor.
2. Drag your .gltf (with its .bin and textures) or .glb onto the preview.
3. Pick a camera move and a light, or a style that sets both.
4. Click Export MP4.

glTF vs. GLB

A .gltf file is JSON that points to separate files for geometry (.bin) and textures (.png, .jpg). A .glb packs all of that into one binary file. Shotona accepts both. With a .gltf, drop the whole folder or select every file at once, otherwise the textures will be missing. Draco-compressed meshes are supported too.

What ends up in the video

• Materials and textures are rendered with physically based shading, so metal, plastic, and fabric look like themselves.
• Animations stored in the file can play in the video. Pick a clip from the Animation menu.
• Lighting comes from a preset with real color temperatures, from cool daylight to warm tungsten.
• Camera motion comes from a preset, such as a slow orbit, a fast whip reveal, or a close detail sweep.

Output settings

• Resolution: 1920×1080 for 16:9, 1080×1920 for 9:16, or 1080×1080 for 1:1.
• Frame rate and length: set in the Output panel.
• Seamless loop: orbit cameras can end exactly where they started, for product pages and GIF-style loops.
• Transparent background: choose the PNG sequence format to get frames with alpha and a soft contact shadow, ready for compositing in a video editor.
• Stills: Export 4K still (PNG) saves the current frame at twice the video resolution.

Why render instead of using an AI video tool?

AI video generators produce a new interpretation of your product each time, so details drift between frames and between clips. Rendering the model itself keeps the exact geometry and colors. Shotona's renders are also deterministic: the same model and settings give the same frames every time, so a re-export never surprises you.

Troubleshooting

• Model looks gray or untextured: the texture files didn't come along with the .gltf. Drop the whole folder, or export as GLB.
• Export gave a zip of PNGs instead of an MP4: your browser lacks the built-in video encoder. Use a current Chrome, Edge, or Safari.
• Model is tiny or huge: it shouldn't matter. Shotona frames by the model's bounds, whatever its units.